Space junk

[expat]

The European Space Agency released a new picture today. It pictures every bit of space junk and and every satellite in orbit. Makes you wonder just how the Space Station and the Shuttle manage to dodge it. Saying that, at least we know where it all is. If you are "visiting" our planet, it must be like navigating a minefield

Hi res version here.



Matt  

[Fozzer]

Amazing Photo...!

I've often wondered how any vehicle could escape Earth's Orbit without colliding with a deadly, 250,000 MPH, 2-inch Posidrive Screw... ...!

Time to call in the Trash Lorry... ...!

Paul... 8-)..!

Looks similar to a Satellite View of a typical Hereford Traffic Jam at 9:00 AM in a working morning.........!

[DaveSims]

Proof that aliens haven't landed on earth.  LOL  

[JBaymore]

So THAT'S how the rings around Saturn formed!  ;)

[a1]

Saw something similar in a National Geographic magazine edition. Apparently in the U.S. the Department of defense logs everything that is over 2 inches long from the first missions in space.


Just another way how humans pollute every place they go.

[beaky]

What's even more disturbing is the fact that as that space gets more crowded with junk, collisions between objects have the potential to create even more debris, etc... etc...

[commoner]

...mmm.....wondered what those astronauts did in their spare time......looks like most of that trash is empty beer bottles..........

"Beam me up Shhcotty..hic!"...........commoner  :P

[Fozzer]

Saw something similar in a National Geographic magazine edition. Apparently in the U.S. the Department of defense logs everything that is over 2 inches long from the first missions in space.


Just another way how humans pollute every place they go.

...trubble is...

....even something as small as a speck of dust, traveling at a zillion miles per hour is large enough to cause serious damage to a Space Vehicle or any sort..!

A bleedin' good reason to avoid traveling on a Number 9 Bus in Space... ...!

...trust me......!

Paul....definitely Earth-bound... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...!

[H]

Paul....definitely Earth-bound...

If you're already there, "Yah can't get thayah from heeyah." Hope all was well in the environs of Alpha Centauri. Thanks for letting us know you're on your way -- we'll be looking for you amongst our space debris...

8-)

[Fozzer]

Here's a question for you......!

All debris circulates a Planet, etc, in a horizontal plane.

So...

To avoid this debris, why is it not possible to escape/travel in a vertical plane, to avoid it...?

Over the top, or down under?

Drive upwards, or downwards, instead of driving sideways?... .... .... ... ...!

Paul...Beep-beep... ...!

[H]

To avoid this debris, why is it not possible to escape/travel in a vertical plane ...

We may not be as advanced as Alpha Centaurians; of course we take off vertically -- if we take off horizontally on a, basically, round planet we'll just be another SST shuttle going in circles around it!

8-)

[Fozzer]

To avoid this debris, why is it not possible to escape/travel in a vertical plane ...

We may not be as advanced as Alpha Centaurians; of course we take off vertically -- if we take off horizontally on a, basically, round planet we'll just be another SST shuttle going in circles around it!

::) ::)



8-)

...you are getting me all confused... ...!

Nah...

If Space Debris, etc, rotates in a thin horizontal plane around the Earth; and the Asteroid Belt, etc, rotates in a thin horizontal plane around the Sun...
Why try and navigate straight through the middle of it?.... .....

Why not just dip over the top of it, or underneath it, to avoid dangerous/lethal collisions... ::)...

Similar to what I do on my trusty Motor-Bike...
I just detour around the bloody Traffic Jams!... :-*...!

There are a number of Detour Signs between Alpha Centauri and Earth, and I take full advantage if them, avoiding both Traffic Jams and paint damage to my fairings with bits of rock.....!

The only real problems I have, are with the Inter-Stellar Highway Space Police...
They really don't like Motor Bikes... ...!

I don't know why. In Space they cant hear the noise from my after-market exhaust system!... ...!

Paul... 8-)...!

P.S. By the way...There's a really nice Transport Caff on Charon...(take Highway 42 from Pluto)...Toasted Bacon Sarnies a specialty!.......!

[pepper_airborne]

You got a high radiation belt around the earth, and the magnetic field of the earth creates a safe zone, that clears itself, some scientist decided it would be nice to blow a nuke in it and see what it does. Outmost stupid, but it turned out we were lucky. And in that very belt everything circles around the earth, so it indeed gets rather crowded.

[Mushroom_Farmer]

That reminds of the old 'Salvage-1' television show from the '80s. It was about a junk dealer who built a rocket, out of junk of course, and flew to the moon to salvage all the junk and sell it to the highest bidder.

[Jeph]

f Space Debris, etc, rotates in a thin horizontal plane around the Earth; and the Asteroid Belt, etc, rotates in a thin horizontal plane around the Sun...
Why try and navigate straight through the middle of it?....

it's considerably cheaper, even though somewhat less safe to launch from the equator or close to it (such as KSC). that offers a 1,040 mph kick in the butt if you launch from the equator (about 1,000 from KSC), and to launch from the poles would cost waaaay too much fuel mass to give the proper DeltaV.

you need to travel at around 17,500 mph rough ground speed to stay in low earth orbit. if you launch from the poles you'd end up in a polar orbit, unless you carried another external tank to change orbit to  an equatorial or even fairly inclined orbit like the ISS (51.6 degrees) newton's laws reign supreme in orbit. every action has equal or opposite reaction.